The poll of 2000 adults shows the average person will endure a cooking disaster at least three times a month – that’s 36 meals ruined across the course of one year.

Dishes such as pancakes, curry, spaghetti Bolognese and soufflé cause problems for even the most proficient cooks.

Speaking on behalf of Sharp Home Appliances, which conducted the research, UK Sales and Marketing Director, Andy Warren said: “There is nothing more disappointing than spending time on a meal, and then discovering that something has gone horribly wrong.

“Our researchers discovered many adults are suffering mishaps in the kitchen on a regular basis, often because they’re rushing things and don’t have the time to spend poring over recipes or getting the correct settings on the oven.

“Distractions such as the children, the television, work and even the pet dog can make concentrating on the one matter in hand difficult.

“And this is why we can understand why many adults stick to the same meals day in and day out for ease and speed.”

The study shows six in 10 British adults rarely deviate from their repertoire of familiar dishes because they usually go wrong if they try to cook anything else.

This means the average family will eat approximately six meals on rotation, to lower the number of cooking disasters in the home.

When it comes to getting things wrong, a third of those polled admit they frequently burn food, while the same percentage often over-boil the vegetables.

Three in 10 cooks will often serve up mushy pasta or rice, while one in six will often burn the edges of a dish but discover it is still raw in the middle.

Adding too much salt, sugar or spice are other common mistakes, as are serving something raw or soggy by accident.

But for a third of adults, cooking in the kitchen is just one of many tasks they are trying to do at the same time, which is why they end up with a disaster on their hands.

A further 22 per cent admit they’re often so engrossed in the television while cooking they’ll get things wrong, and a fifth blame the children for being so distracting.

While 13 per cent simply get flustered when trying to knock up an evening meal, 20 per cent make silly mistakes when in a rush.

Four in 10 people think they can attribute some of their cooking disasters to the fact they don’t know how to use their oven properly, and 38 per cent aren’t even confident they know how to use all of the settings on the microwave.

But it can be devastating when a meal goes wrong, particularly when time is limited, which is why 21 per cent of Brits claim to have had a complete ‘toddler tantrum’ when realising their errors in the kitchen.

Fifteen per cent of people have been known to burst into tears as a result of the dinner being inedible, while 26 per cent have resorted to getting a takeaway.